Speculative Fiction—an all-encompassing genre created to describe stories of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and other stories that have an element of “What if...” in them. A story in speculative fiction is one that adds an element of the unreal, or asks, what would become of our society if history took a different direction at some important event? Fiction with a little something extra thrown in.—William D. Richards

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Monday, May 7, 2018

Emergence (Kindred Ties, Book 2) by Marita Smith

Release date: May 1, 2018

Subgenre: Young adult science fiction

About Emergence:

The fight for order has only just begun…
Fletcher, Ariana and Eli are walkers: carriers of a rare gene that
enables them to communicate with animals and bridge our world and the
spirit world. It is up to them to avert a catastrophic solar storm that
threatens to release a dangerous dark spirit. Yet they’re hunted by a
powerful genetics organisation, the MRI, which will stop at nothing to
control their powers.

Reeling from loss and betrayal, scientist Robyn Greene must
protect the walkers at all costs. Can she figure out the MRI’s plans and
help the walkers bring Earth back into balance before it’s too late?

Excerpt:

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe,
think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

– Nikola Tesla

Shock Tactics

Ariana pulled at her restraints, metal
biting into her wrists as she struggled for breath. The electrodes plastered to
her chest and scalp burned, each one like a red-hot poker. Head pounding, she
lifted her gaze to the reinforced glass wall. Robyn and the earthship felt like
a once familiar dream beginning to fade. Even memories of her brother’s face
were starting to blur, leaving a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Fang and Derek stood watching her,
surrounded by a retinue of scientists and glinting machines. Derek leaned
forward and pressed the intercom. It crackled in the eerie stillness of the
chamber. “Once more.”

Ariana shook her head. “Derek,
please –”

Current flooded her body. The pain
locked her jaw, sending her muscles into fiery spasms. Her entire body felt on
fire, every nerve ending pushed to breaking point. Blood pounded in her ears, a
scream ricocheting through her skull. A tiny bronze-speckled salamander writhed
in a small cage beside her. The sight of him sent fat tears streaking down her
cheeks.

Jericho, she thought.

Blue light skimmed across her
limbs, brightening as it encased her body in a vibrant electric sphere. The
pain dulled as the spirit energy washed through her. Ariana closed her eyes and
let it fill her mind and body. Calm descended on her in a wave.

I
am here. The salamander’s voice caressed her
mind.

I
don’t know how much more I can take.

They
want to understand your aura, little one. They want to use its power.

Ariana opened her eyes. Derek and
Fang stood rooted to the spot, staring at her as the blue light flickered outward,
tendrils raking the walls. Fang raised the receiver and the blue light halted,
rushing back towards Ariana. The chip at the base of her skull throbbed as it
interrupted the flow of energy. She felt nothing; riding out the pain as if she
were outside her body. Ariana catalogued the red gashes on her wrists and
ankles, the burns left by the electrodes, as Jericho twitched then lay still.

It lasted only a heartbeat.

The electrodes pulsed again and
Ariana jerked, gasping for breath and rattling her restraints. Sparks jumped
from her skin into the air. When she looked up again, Derek was watching her, a
momentary flicker of pain on his face.

The heavy door swung open to reveal
three scientists. As they wheeled Jericho away, Ariana reached out for the
touch of the salamander’s mind but felt nothing. She heard the familiar snap as
the wheelchair was unfolded behind her, then slumped into it as her restraints
clicked open. Eyes glazed and head pounding, she tried desperately to take note
of her surroundings, looking for anything she could use to escape, but the room
was bare. Ariana clung to the wheelchair as she was trundled through the door
into the clinical corridor. The harsh fluorescent lights blurred as her vision
clouded. She tried to keep her eyes open, but darkness claimed her.

About Marita Smith:

Marita Smith is an author, editor, and gourmet mushroom grower.
After finishing a PhB (Hons) in Science at the Australian National
University, she worked as a paleobiogeochemist in the Netherlands and
then vagabonded her way across Europe working on small farms. She now
lives in a tent on the NSW South Coast, where she writes young adult
science fiction, cultures bioluminescent fungi, and hangs out with her
donkey, Mindy.

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